The automotive industry has been seeking to commercialize a viable and safe electrical vehicle for several decades now. An important element of such a vehicle is its battery. The battery or batteries must not only provide the requisite level of energy and reasonable autonomy as well as be durable, but must also include or be equipped with security devices to prevent overcharge, over-discharge, internal and external short circuits and over-heating.
Security devices for batteries are typically in the form of electronic monitoring systems that monitor the voltage, the current and the temperature of the batteries and shut down the battery when a problem is detected. These electronic systems perform well under normal circumstances but may be unable to prevent damages to the battery in circumstances where an internal short-circuit occurs within the series of electrochemical cells making up of the battery. Internal short-circuits, although rare, can cause the temperature of the battery to rise to dangerous levels causing permanent damages to the battery and may also cause damages to the various components in the vicinity of the battery experiencing an internal short-circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,986 provides one solution to the potential problems of such internal short-circuits by including fuses between each connection of the electrochemical cells and the battery poles. This system of fuses cuts off the excessive electric current generated by a specific electrochemical cell experiencing an internal short-circuit from the other cells thereby limiting the damage caused by the internal short-circuit to the specific electrochemical cell. The system is however complex and cumbersome requiring multiple solder to connect each fuse to each electrochemical cell and requires added space to accommodate the plurality of fuses.
Therefore, there is a need for a security device which is less complex and cumbersome than the prior art and adapted to prevent damages in a battery experiencing an internal short-circuit.